Hundreds of thousands of people may have been overcharged by the Ministry of Justice when seeking a lasting power of attorney.

These people are now entitled to money back from the Government - and are being urged to find out if they qualify.

When carrying out the work, The Office of the Public Guardian isn't allowed to make a profit - but the department didn't cut its prices after finding cheaper ways to grant powers of attorney, reports Mirror Online .

People have been charged some £89 million too much as a result.

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Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Old Mutual Wealth, said: "The Ministry of Justice is only supposed to charge enough to cover the cost of providing the service, but the large number of applications meant it made a £89 million surplus, which it now needs to repay."

(Image: Getty)

Old Mutual sent in a Freedom of Information request to find out how many people could be due a refund, and discovered an astonishing 1.8 million customers had been overcharged by up to £54.

Lasting power of attorney explained

A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.

This gives you more control over what happens to you if you have an accident or an illness and can’t make your own decisions (you ‘lack mental capacity’).

There are two types of lasting power of attorney:

health and welfare

property and financial affairs

You can choose to make one type or both.

“With the continual rise in dementia, there is a very real risk that people will be left in a vulnerable position if they don’t register a lasting power of attorney," said Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Old Mutual Wealth.

"Those with dementia are particularly vulnerable to the theft or illegal use of their property, money or other valuables."